Remember when Secretary of State John Kerry and his crack team of negotiators finally hammered out the details of the historic Iran nuclear deal, but deliberately left American prisoners out of the talks so as “not to hold a nuclear agreement hostage to hostages”?
President Obama is of course in Cuba this week, and had made it clear in an interview with ABC News that he wouldn’t be presenting Raul Castro with a list of dissidents who should be freed as part of the normalization of relations between America and Cuba.
Pres. Obama says he won't give Pres. Raul Castro a list of political prisoners to release: https://t.co/rBylgUSIG9https://t.co/8ysxwgfHzg
— ABC News (@ABC) March 21, 2016
https://twitter.com/BecketAdams/status/712057786436296704
Yes, Castro did indeed say that, given a list of political prisoners, he’d release them by the end of the day. Did we detect a note of sarcasm there?
Raul Castro erupted when @Acosta asked about Cuban political prisoners. "Show me the list! What political prisoners? Give me a name!"
— Olivier Knox (@OKnox) March 21, 2016
So Raul Castro tells @Acosta there are no political prisoners in Cuba, given a list, he'd release them tonight. Okay…
— Luke Russert (@LukeRussert) March 21, 2016
WOW: 1) CNN asks Raul Castro why he's keeping political prisoners and 2) Castro, pissed, says give him a list and he'll release em tonight
— Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery) March 21, 2016
Castro says if reporter can provide list of political prisoners in Cuba, they will be released before the night ends.
— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) March 21, 2016
Here’s that list you requested, Mr. President.
Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation says it has a list of "Forgotten 51" political prisoners in Cuba. pic.twitter.com/xv0B4aY0gz
— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) March 21, 2016
"Our list of political prisoners is this long!" https://t.co/8JM2Br1VTZ pic.twitter.com/XHSuJZf8Uj
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) March 21, 2016
Univision anchor Jorge Ramos, who proved to be one tough debate moderator, produced his own list.
Here's one list with 47 political prisoners in Cuba. Is Raúl Castro going to free them by tonight? pic.twitter.com/NIboh0BpLm
— JORGE RAMOS (@jorgeramosnews) March 21, 2016
https://twitter.com/xebec78/status/712019571222286336
@jorgeramosnews I guess #RaulCastro has a few hours to comply with his own words, but I have a funny feeling he won't
— Diego R. del Pino (@Diegordelpino) March 21, 2016
@jorgeramosnews Release only to re-arrest them a few days later, but Obama will cite their release as progress.
— Tom B (@TomInKansas) March 21, 2016
https://twitter.com/helmet2001/status/712135973660966913
https://twitter.com/Maria38938708/status/712059349359857668
Those aren't political prisoners. They are just undocumented Republicans. Obama is going to recommend audits. @jorgeramosnews
— GlobSnark (@GlobSnark) March 22, 2016